It's My Party and...

In a morning meeting in Raleigh today about Sylvan Heights Waterfowl, Mike Lubbock was asked to tell "the Queen" story to the N.C. legislators considering funding help to his Scotland Neck, NC, waterfowl breeding and conservation facility.

In a nutshell, many years ago, early in Mike's waterfowl career, he was called to Buckingham Palace to help the Queen deal with the fact that her geese there were not breeding.

Mike's advice: different diet, stop landing the Royal helicoptor so near the pond and, when she holds her annual series of largely-attended garden parties, stop the guests from circling the pond.

The Queen was fine with recommendations 1 and 2, but told Mike she felt she could not do the latter.

Mike worried that his advice would not fix the situation and he would end up in the "Tower of London".

He was invited to one of the new season's garden parties and found that the guests were roped off from the pond.

The result: three new clutches of eggs.

Long live the geese! Long live Mike! Long live the Queen!